Effigia

Name: Effigia (Ghost).
Phonetic: Ef-e-gee-ah.
Named By: Sterling J. Nesbitt & Mark Norell - 2006.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Diapsida, Archosauromorpha, Crurotarsi, Rauisuchia, Poposauridae.
Species: E. okeeffeae (type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: 2 meters long.
Known locations: USA, New Mexico, Chinle Formation, Ghost Ranch.
Time period: Triassic.
Fossil representation: 1 almost complete skeleton, 3 partial skeletons.

       Although Effigia resembles and ornithomimid dinosaur, it is thought that this is just a case of convergent evolution. Later studies have suggested that Effigia is the same creature as the archosaur Chatterjeea and that both are synonymous with the archosaur Shuvosaurus.
       The type specimen is named after the renowned artist Georgia O'Keeffe, whose ashes were scattered at Ghost Ranch.

Further reading
- Extreme convergence in the body plans of an early suchian (Archosauria) and ornithomimid dinosaurs (Theropoda). - Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. - S. J. Nesbitt& M. A. Norell - 2006.
- The anatomy of Effigia okeeffeae (Archosauria, Suchia), theropod-like convergence, and the distribution of related taxa. - Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 302: 84 pp. - S. Nesbitt - 2007.

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